It's a game where you build with square blocks that uses literally 5 controls on the keyboard compared to most that use 50. Super fancy combat with sword clashing and all that dumb stuff wouldn't fit.
i didn't realize that the 30 zombies/skeletons outside of me house were over for a block party. You don't need over complicated sword mechanics, you need to realize exactly why the minecraft combat is bad and what makes a good yet simple combat system.
The first thing that makes minecraft combat a stuff sty is the fact that mobs damage you by touching you, with the exception of the creeper and the skeleton (the iron golem is fairly new, so it's more on par with these mechanics). these mobs should have attacks that only cause damage when the attack happens, like the iron golem. Attacks from mobs can be blocked with the blocking mechanic.
Secondly, the block mechanic currently sucks bat richards because you can be hit a million times while blocking and take damage. The way to fix this would be to make the block stop all damage on the front side of the character. any attack that hits a blocked player will not effect the player but will break the block, opening a window for a quick second attack. Blocking an attack counts as a use.
Third would be the armor. This has been said thousands of times, but the armor system needs weight. An archer should not be wearing heavy armor, it's stupid. Armor should not affect walking speed, but should directly affect the sprint speed. Leather armor would slow you down very, very slightly. iron and gold would slow you down somewhat, and diamond should slow you down noticeably. Someone in leather would have a fair chance of beating someone in diamond if they have the skill to do so, because they need to know how to move and how to properly use the blocking mechanic.
Fourth are enchantments. enchantments like fire aspect, knockback, and sharpness should have a slight chance to fail, that way you can't always just rely on your SUPER FIAR SHARP SWARD.
This, while not severely meddling with core gameplay, would make combat more interesting in PvM and PvP. The main idea is to make combat more skillful while still accessible for those who have no idea what they are doing.